Sharp increases in agricultural rates, following a land revaluation, mean the issue will be keenly debated at this week’s Victorian Farmers Federation Ballarat conference.

“Feedback from our members suggests that rates are a key issue across much of rural and regional Victoria,” VFF president David Jochinke said.

“Farmers want to contribute to their communities, but they do not want to be rated out of existence.

“Victorians cannot afford to let them be rated out of existence.”

He said farmers were keen to find a way to deliver equitable funding, between rural and metropolitan councils.

But Professor Ryan, the director of UTS Institute for Public Policy and Governance, said while there were misalignments in the current land value based rating system, it was still the best available.

“I don’t think there is a more equitable or fairer way to do it,” Ms Ryan said.

“But there is always the opportunity to refine the details of how rating happens, within the system, and focus on areas where potential inequities pop up.”

Rating systems needed to be more responsive, with all levels of government engaging more closely with affected communities

“The agricultural sector has good times and bad times and often this is not taken into account,” Professor Ryan said.

Any system based on land values had an inbuilt lag.

“It can lead to rate increases when farmers least need them.”

She said the biggest single thing that could boost the position of local government was to improve the way financial assistance grants worked.

“The significant disparity between metropolitan and non-metropolitan councils is very stark,” Professor Ryan said.

“And the biggest way to improve things is to put pressure on the Federal Government.

“They are a Liberal-National coalition and it’s a very important time for regional communities to be beating a path to its door.”